Infant seat rocker

ABSTRACT

For an infant seat of the type embodying an elongated inclined floor on which the infant is reclined, and embodying side walls and an end wall at the lower end of the floor with a framework beneath the floor holding the floor inclined upwardly away from the end wall, a rocker is provided. The rocker has an elongated main platform. A motor is mounted on the platform and has a shaft extending transversely over the platform. A hollow cover having side walls and end walls and a top encloses the motor and overlies the platform. Pivot means on the platform within the cover mounts the cover for rocking movement over the platform. Lifting arm means beneath the cover near the other end thereof is carried by bell crank means fixed on the shaft. The cover has an exterior seat support on its end most remote from the cover pivot means which support is operable to engage and lift the framework and thereby rock the seat upward as the cover is raised by the lifting arm means.

llnited States Fatent [191 Kinslow, .1 r.

[ Dec. 3, 1974 INFANT SEAT ROCKER William G. Kinslow, Jr., 2 NW. 69th,Kansas City, M0. 641 18 [22] Filed: Aug. 9, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 387,080

[76] Inventor:

[52] 11.8. Cl. 5/109, 297/260 [51] Int. Cl A47d 9/04 [58] Field ofSearch 5/108, 109, 101, 105, 107;

Primary ExaminerPaul R. Gilliam Assistant ExaminerKenneth J. DornerAttorney, Agent, or FirmWells, St. John & Roberts [57] ABSTRACT For aninfant seat of the type embodying an elongated inclined floor on whichthe infant is reclined, and embodying side walls and an end wall at thelower end of the floor with a framework beneath the floor holding thefloor inclined upwardly away from the end wall, a rocker is provided.The rocker has an elongated main platform. A motor is mounted on theplatform and has a shaft extending transversely over the platform. Ahollow cover having side walls and end walls and a top encloses themotor and overlies the platform. Pivot means on the platform within thecover mounts the cover for rocking movement over the platform. Liftingarm means beneath the cover near the other end thereof is carried bybell crank means fixed on the shaft. The cover has an exterior seatsupport on its end most remote from the cover pivot means which supportis operable to engage and lift the framework and thereby rock the seatupward as the cover is raised by the lifting arm means.

2 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures SHEET 10F 2 PATENTEL DEB 31974 INFANT SEATROCKER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Infant seats of the type shown hereinare found in such prior patents as US. Pat. No. 3,272,556 to Rocker andUS. Pat. No. 3,653,080 to Hafele. To rock such an infant seat Hafelemodified the framework that holds the seat inclined to provide a rockingmechanism as a part of this framework which mechanism includes a liftarm and a bell crank forming part of the framework. He provided a motorcarried by the framework to operate thebell crank.

A crib rocking device was already known in the US. Pat. to Pinto No.2,765,478 in which a spring mounted crib'was caused to rock by means ofa motor driven bell crank and a strand 14 that pulled down on the cribto compress the springs mounting the crib and then allow the springs toraise the crib. The bell crank and its motor were mounted on a base 12and enclosed in a housing 7 affixed to the base 12.

PURPOSE OF THE INVENTION his the purpose of this invention to provide anovel device by which an infant seat, having a framework secured to itbeneath the seat to hold the seat inclined, can be rocked about itslower corner. The device embodies a main platform which can rest on thesurface which supports the seat. A cover is mounted on the platform andis pivotally supported thereon so as to rock up and down. The cover hasa hook for carrying the framework, and the platform carries a motor andbell crank mechanism operably connected to the cover for rocking it.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side view of the infantseat and the mechanism for rocking the seat.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the rocking device which shows how it hooks tothe framework of the seat.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken substantially on the line3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5-5 of FIG. 3.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Theinvention is shown in connection with an infants seat I having a bottomwall 2, side walls 3 and 4, and and an end wall 5. A frameworkcomprising side jointed rods 6 and 7 at each side of the seat isconnected to the seat I by cars 8 through which the ends of the rods aresecured. The rods 6 and 7 form parallel triangles with one leg of eachtriangle being the'seat bottom wall 2. The two triangles thus formed arejoined by a crossbar 9. The function of the present invention is to movethe crossbar up and allow it to come back down thus to rock the infantseat 1 about its lowermost corner where the bottom wall 2 and the endwall 5 meet. This corner may be shaped to avoid wear on the comprises acommercially available electrical or spring motor geared to operate itsdrive shaft 14 at a suitable speed to rock the infant seat at acomfortable rate for the infant. The drive shaft 14 has a bell crank 15that raises and lowers a link 16. The platform 11 has upstanding flanges17, 18 and 19 along its edges with the side edge flanges l7 and 19terminating before they reach the end of the platform that is mostremote from the power unit 13. The flange 18 has a hinge 20 at its top.A wide metal frame 21 is carried by the hinge. This frame extends upwardand over the power unit 13 then forwardly and down toward the platform,between the ends of the flanges 17 and 19 and the front pad 12 of theplatform. The frame 21 has an upturned end 22 so that a wide seat 24 isprovided to receive the crossbar 9. The bell crank 15 raises the link 16which is con nected to the frame 21 to swing it up and cause the seat 24to lift the crossbar 9.

A cover 25 is secured on the frame 21 and covers it as well as the powerunit 13. This cover 25 is a decorative cover and preferably is molded ofa synthetic resin or plastic. The cover 25 fits snugly alongside theflanges 17 and 19, but, because of the movement up and down of the frame21 and the cover 25, there is a pinch space 26 at the end of the devicebetween the end flange l8 and the cover end 25a. The space 26 is a wideclearance and the cover 25 is somewhat flexible so there is really nochance for damage at 26. The space 26 closes on the up movement of theseat 24. There is a pinch space 27 between the seat 24 and the platform11. This space 27 closes on the down movement of the seat 24.

The connection of the frame 21 to the upstanding link 16 provides safetymeans to prevent the down pull of the link 16 from exerting a pinchingpull downward upon the frame 2] in the event that something is caught inthe pinching space 27. This safety means comprises a link 28 pivoted tothe top of the link 16 and normally extending over the unit 13 to a pairof ears 29 turned down on the frame 21. The link 28 is secured by apivot pin 30 to the ears 29. The link 28 extends beyond the pivot pin 30about one third of the distance between the link 16 and the pivot pin30. The operation of this safety mechanism is such that in the normallift movement of the bell crank 15 and the link 16, the link 16 pressesthe link 28 up against the frame 21 where it is shown in FIG. 3. Now, onthe downward movement of the link 16, the frame 21 will normally keepthe link 28 in this position. However if something foreign gets in thepinch point 27 that will stop the frame 21 from going down far enough toallow the bell crank 15 to complete its low point of travel, the link 16will pull the link 28 down away from the frame 21, turning the link 28on the pivot pin 30 and moving the free end 28a of the link 28 up towardthe frame 21. Whatever force downward on the seat 24 by the crossbar 9that is due to the load in the infant seat will pinch the foreign objectin the pinch space 27 but this load can be tolerated and is alwayspresent.

The hinge 20 is placed near the top of the total movement of the seat 24so that the up and down movement of the crossbar 9 seated in seat 24will follow the same path and not create horizontal pull on the crossbar9 and thus not cause the corner of the infant seat 1 to rub on thefloor.

The device may also include means for providing music when the seat isbeing rocked. A music drum 32 is rotated by a pulley 33 which is drivenby a belt 34 that in turn is driven by a pulley 35. A stylus 36 of asound producer 37 rides on the drum and supplies the vibrations to thesound producer.

Having described a preferred embodiment of my invention, I claim:

1. A rocker for a separate conventional infant seat, said infant seathaving an elongated floor with side walls and an end wall upstandingfrom the floor to support the infant and having a framework beneath thefloor operable to support the infant seat with the seat floor inclinedupwardly away from a horizontal plane;

said rocker comprising an elongated main platform;

a motor mounted on the main platform having a shaft extendingtransversely of and above the platform;

a hollow cover over the motor having a top wall, side walls and endwalls forming together an enclosure over the platform and surroundingthe motor;

pivot means within the enclosure adjacent to one end wall pivotallymounting the cover on the platform;

liftingmeans beneath the cover operable to lift the cover up and downabout said pivot means; and

means operably connecting the lifting means to the motor shaft;

and an infant seat supported on the end of the cover most remote fromthe pivot means operable to receive and support the framework totransmit the pivotal up and down movement of the cover to the infantseat to rock an infant residing in the infant seat, said infant seatsupport comprises an upwardly opening transverse hook for openlyreceiving and supporting the infant seat framework therein.

2. The device defined in claim 1 wherein the last named means comprisesa bell crank on the motor shaft;

a link extending upwardly from the bell crank and means connecting thelink to the cover.

1. A rocker for a separate conventional infant seat, said infant seathaving an elongated floor with side walls and an end wall upstandingfrom the floor to support the infant and having a framework beneath thefloor operable to support the infant seat with the seat floor inclinedupwardly away from a horizontal plane; said rocker comprising anelongated main platform; a motor mounted on the main platform having ashaft extending transversely of and above the platform; a hollow coverover the motor having a top wall, side walls and end walls formingtogether an enclosure over the platform and surrounding the motor; pivotmeans within the enclosure adjacent to one end wall pivotally mountingthe cover on the platform; lifting means beneath the cover operable tolift the cover up and down about said pivot means; and means operablyconnecting the lifting means to the motor shaft; and an infant seatsupported on the end of the cover most remote from the pivot meansoperable to receive and support the framework to transmit the pivotal upand down movement of the cover to the infant seat to rock an infantresiding in the infant seat, said infant seat support comprises anupwardly opening transverse hook for openly receiving and supporting theinfant seat framework therein.
 2. The device defined in claim 1 whereinthe last named means comprises a bell crank on the motor shaft; a linkextending upwardly from the bell crank and means connecting the link tothe cover.